Rescue
by Orangen
Summary: A fluffy little oneshot featuring a younger Neimi and Colm. Kind of a NeimiColm pairing, if you squint at it.


_Disclaimer_: If I owned the copyrights to FE:SS, Colm and Neimi would definitely get more screen time.

_Author's Notes_: From Colm and Neimi's support conversations, they sound like they would be really cute as kids… And this seems like something Colm would do anyway.

**Rescue**

Neimi nervously clasped her hand around Colm's as he led her through Lark's market. Her grandfather had only allowed her and Colm to go on the basis that Colm wouldn't lose her this time, and despite the fact that he had indeed lost her on more than one occasion, she still liked playing in the market with him… So she was trying extra hard to keep up.

"Neimi, can you wait here a second?"

Colm stopped suddenly, and Neimi accidentally stumbled into the back of his feet. She blushed as the blue-haired boy glared at her, and nodded meekly.

"All right. Don't wander off."

Neimi silently watched her friend wander away into the crowd. Uncharacteristically sulky, she slid down against the barrel she was standing next to and plopped down onto the dusty ground. Colm sometimes left her in front of stalls like this, so she was used to it even though it bothered her. He usually came back with something fun to play with, though.

As she waited for Colm to come back, Neimi quickly drew a few simple pictures with her finger in the market's dirt square. They were mostly stick figures, as drawing wasn't her forte (Colm often teased her about this), but Neimi liked to fantasize stories to go along with them sometimes. There were a pair she drew close together which she thought could be Colm taking her on an adventure, and another by itself that could be her bravely rescuing Colm from somewhere far away… But Colm rescuing her from something minor was how it usually went.

Several minutes passed, and Colm still hadn't come back. Neimi sighed and started rubbing out her pictures in the dirt so she could draw new ones. As she leaned forward to draw a circle, a shadow fell over her.

"Hi, Colm!" she said cheerfully, not looking up.

"Hey, little girl. Someone like you shouldn't be out all alone."

Neimi gulped at the unfamiliar voice. She slowly looked up and saw a tall, lanky older teenage boy with dark hair and pale skin. Two or three other boys stood behind him, looking coolly at her, as if they were trying to decide something.

That was the problem with being short, skinny, and awkward. Neimi got picked on a lot, even by people other than Colm… Although her friend usually didn't _mean_ to scare her.

"Um…" Neimi could barely swallow, and her hands shook slightly.

"Do you have a _chaperone_?" the tall boy leered.

"I, uh…" Neimi stuttered.

"Hey, jerk, leave Neimi alone!"

At the shout of Colm's voice, Neimi felt relief coursing through her. He glared at the older boys, but despite the fact that he was almost as tall as them, he still looked scrawny in comparison. The difference was the short, narrow, new knife perched in Colm's long fingers.

"Oh?" the dark-haired boy drawled. "No need to get so worked up over your little girlfriend. We were just having fun."

"She's not my _girlfriend_!" Colm shouted. "Now leave her alone!"

The other boy shrugged. "Whatever. You gonna be that boring about it, fine. Let's go, boys."

He beckoned to the others, and they sauntered away. Neimi's heartbeat slowly returned to normal, but she was still breathing nervously.

"Uh, Neimi, they're gone now," Colm said uncomfortably. "Ya wanna… go back home or something?"

Suddenly, Neimi threw her arms around Colm's neck and started crying. Colm blinked and dropped the knife, acutely aware that they were getting a few stares. In an attempt to make the situation at least appear a bit less awkward, he slowly patted Neimi on the back.

"You, uh, don't have to cry again, Neimi," Colm mumbled. "I said, they're gone now…"

"C-colm!" Neimi sniffled. "Don't ever do anything scary like that again! What if you got hurt on the knife?"

"But I didn't, and I took on a bunch of other guys!" Colm smirked. "Now stop it, you big crybaby. Let's get back home and get you cleaned up, okay?"

Neimi slowly pulled back from Colm and opened her mouth like she was going to say something. Before she could lecture him about saving her life just a moment ago, Colm groaned and turned away, walking hastily so she might get his message.

"Wait, Colm!"

Neimi had to jog to catch up to him, and by the time she did, she was a bit out of breath. Colm paused and waited for her breathing to go back to normal, and then started walking again. By the time Neimi next said anything, they'd already left the market and were on the tree-lined path leading back to her house.

"Uh, Colm," she said timidly. "I just want to… say thank you. For before, I mean. I was really scared."

"Of course you were," Colm replied proudly. "That's why I cam back, you see. I know you can't take care of yourself, so it was Colm to the rescue!"

Neimi almost smiled. "Well… Even though the knife was kind of scary, I'm glad you saved me. I mean it."

With that, she shyly kissed Colm on the cheek. At his stunned blush, Neimi grinned nervously and quickly turned away before he could say anything. Colm blinked at Neimi's quickly retreating figure for a few seconds, and then smirked.

_Maybe I should rescue her more often…_


End file.
